Thu Aug 16, 2007 at 18:07

I ran into Al Gore at a climate/energy conference this month, and he vibrates with passion about this issue - recognizing that we should confront mortal threats even when they don't emanate from Al Qaeda.

"We are now treating the Earth's atmosphere as an open sewer," he said, and (perhaps because my teenage son was beside me) he encouraged young people to engage in peaceful protests to block major new carbon sources.

"I can't understand why there aren't rings of young people blocking bulldozers," Mr. Gore said, "and preventing them from constructing coal-fired power plants."

Say it, Al! But it's not just young people who need to do it - everyone needs to join in, starting with you. Shutting down coal plants, blockading palm oil importers like Imperium Renewables and other rainforest destroyers, and stopping work at oil refineries could move the climate debate beyond just personal action and put the spotlight squarely on the big polluters who are the real culprits behind the problem.

This could be Al Gore's Gandhi moment (especially appropriate for a Nobel Peace Prize nominee). It would be great if you (in conjunction with say, Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network and other civil disobedience-oriented environmental groups) announced a day of civil disobedience to confront polluters - and were the first one to get arrested. You'll find thousands of people (self included) to back you up.

If you're interested in being one of those people, click here to send Al Gore a fax letting him know you're ready to participate in civil disobedience on behalf of the planet.

This is just fine and dandy, Al. I admire you, but you, of course, will not be accused of conspiring to an act of terrorism (as several demonstrators who appeared on Amy Goodman's Democracy Now have been) for protesting against corporation environmental abuse. (This is happening in the Pacific Northwest even as we "speak.") With the right the president has now taken to conduct surveillance of every type on every person (via satellites that can see into your home), the attempt to completely stifle any form of dissent, and the apparent unanimity of political leaders of both major parties and the corporate world to support this agenda, how can anyone in good conscience suggest that you engage in protest that could put you in jail as a terrorist for unlimited time with no legal rights, your life destroyed.

I agree with the sentiment, but as a member of the Friends once told me, she rrefused to go to prison on principle because she could be more effective on the outside!

Yes, this reflects fear....and "so they win." Not yet, they don't. I think immense pressure needs to be brought to bear on Congress in a last feeble attempt to use the "democratic" process. When that fails, it's time to find some remote place to live out our days without being scrutinized,

Because unless we are prepared for an armed insurrection (which we are not) the might of our professional U.S. military (we're just doing our job) will be brought to bear on any "natural emergency, immigration emergency, civil disorder" etc. to be determined by the President and Alberto Gonzalez.

There's plenty to be said on this, but I've probably put myself on an alienating fringe and written too much. If so, my apologies...I'm a first-time poster.

I may seem to have run off topic earlier, but I'm concerned about our ability to affect anything in the corporate/government world. Millions of people opposed the war in Iraq and still do....to no avail. This government's relentless support of business and roll-backs on environmental standards, combined with the continued and intentional rapid erosion of our constitutional rights, leads me to believe that "in the streets direct action" is not going to work because it's NOT GOING TO BE TOLERATED. Perhaps organized boycotts....money's at the center of everything in this country anyway.